I got my opportunity to go down and see the new home of the Pittsburgh Penguins. I have to say, it was, in fact, very impressive.
This is the view from lower Center Avenue. The is the view from upper Center Avenue.
Once I got past the interactive Penguins “hall of fame”, I headed up to the main concourse.
Here the fans can relive some of the great history of the Penguins using touchscreen monitors.
Here, I was amazed by the overall appearance of, well, everything. There is certainly the overwhelming sense of “new arena” smell and appearance. After standing there for a couple of minutes taking it all in, I decided to go into the Men’s room. ...
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It’s official. The Pens have signed Paul Martin to a 5 year 25 million dollar contract.
Pierre Mcguire is reporting that the Pens are very close to signing Paul Martin.
It would appear that maybe Ray Shero had a back-up plan in the likely event that Gonchar or Hamhuis would not sign. The Pens have pried Zbynek Michalek from the Phoenix Coyotes. Michalek fills the need for a defensive defensemen. The Pens signed Michalek to a 5 year deal totaling 20 million.
2010 Pittsburgh Penguins Free Agents
The Pens got outworked in this game. It was almost as if they thought they had already won this game. Montreal played with the desperation of a team that was facing elimination, the Pens played like they didn’t need to try and win each and every battle. For that, they get to come home and try and win this series in the seventh game.
You just can’t make a bad mistake against the Canadiens. They are very opportunistic and make the most of each chance they are given. They don’t generate a lot of good scoring chances, so you can’t hand them opportunities by making bad plays in your own zone or the neutral zone.
Now let’s see how the Pens play as they will be forced to play with desperation.
It seems that if the Pens keep doing what they are doing offensively, which is doing everything thing they can to get two goals against the red hot Halak, and limit the number of bad bounces that end up in their own net, they can come out on top.
To their credit, the Canadiens played a better game today. They actually outshot the Penguins 33-25. The Pens have won both games that they were outshot in. Montreal had more sustained pressure at times during the course of the tonight’s game. The Pens still controlled the play for most of the game. Pittsburgh has definitely got the edge in puck possession.
Notes:
- The Pens picked up the level of hitting again in this game. They seem to play better when things get scrappy.
- Fleury was very good in this game. He has shown a tendency to bounce back from a loss with a strong performance in the playoffs.
- Seems like taking Ponikarovsky and Fedotenko out of the lineup was a good call.
- It was nice to see a couple of goals from defensemen.
- It was nice to see Guerin getting in front of Halak.
- I would still like to see the Penguins get more accurate with their shots. They are missing the net with too much frequency. I am sure that it is product of gripping the stick too tightly as it has been hard to get anything past Halak.
- Malkin took his game up a notch. He looked like a man on a mission.
The Pens will have to fight through another energetic start from the Canadiens in game 6.
I honestly don’t know what to say. The Pens are badly outplaying the Canadiens with the exception of capitalizing on given chances. We lost: 3 shit goals to 1. As I am driving home from the pub, the only thing going through my mind is “I would trade all of our wingers right now for Ryan Malone”. The Pens need to have a strong net presence. Someone, anyone has to be willing to pay the price and park themselves in front of Halak. They need guys to drive the net and make things uncomfortable for Halak. They are not getting rebound opportunities and they are not screening the goalie like like they should. They need someone like……Ryan Malone.
Notes:
- Missed shots are once again becoming a huge problem. Maybe the Pens are gripping the stick to tight right now, but they are misfiring with scary consistency.
- Kudos to the Montreal fans for littering the ice on a penalty call in the third period. Montreal fans are considered by many to be the best and most knowledgeable fans around, but that is pathetic.
Let’s hope the Pens can overcome whatever voodoo it is that is preventing them from scoring and pound the Canadiens at home on Saturday.
